By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Sumner Redstone, the ailing 92-year-old media mogul who controls TV and movie powerhouses CBS and Viacom, has stepped down as executive chairman of CBS amid a courtroom battle over his health and mental capacity. CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves will replace him as chairman.
Redstone's resignation, which took effect Tuesday, is the near-final step to winding down his control of the giant entertainment companies he created out his father's drive-in movie business starting in the 1950s.
In a wrinkle to succession plans, Redstone's daughter Shari said in a statement she had gone against her father's stated intention that she succeed him and instead nominated Moonves as a "leader with an independent voice" who is not "otherwise intertwined in Redstone family matters."
That preference suggests Viacom Inc.'s current CEO might not succeed Redstone as chairman at that company, whose board is meeting Thursday.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, once Redstone's trusted lawyer, holds authority to make medical decisions for Redstone if he is deemed incapacitated by his physician. Dauman is also a trustee in the trust that, upon Redstone's death, would control his near 80 percent of voting shares in both CBS and Viacom, a fortune worth around $4 billion. Shari Redstone, also a trustee, is vice chair of both companies.
Investors cheered the transition, sending CBS Corp. shares up 4.1 percent and Viacom shares up 10 percent in after-hours trading.
The stock jumps came despite the fact that Redstone had all but disappeared from active management and last took part in quarterly conference calls for both companies in November 2014.
"There's probably no meaningful change in day-to-day operations," said Laura Martin, an analyst with Needham & Co. "He's had plenty of time to make sure the transition after him has been smooth."
SpringOwl Asset Management, a New York-based investment adviser, on Wednesday urged Viacom to similarly replace Redstone, but with "an independent director as executive chairman and that it not be Philippe Dauman."
The move leaves Redstone chairman emeritus of CBS, the company said Wednesday. It did not give an update on his health. For now, Redstone remains executive chairman of Viacom.
Redstone has been at the center of a months-long court fight. His ex-girlfriend and longtime companion Manuela Herzer, who had been in control of Redstone's care, issued a court challenge over his decision-making capacity after she was expelled from his house in October.
Herzer contends that Redstone is unable to speak and cannot meaningfully engage in decision-making about his medical care or other subjects. She's challenged the validity of his increasingly illegible signature; Viacom regulatory filings last month omitted Redstone's signature for the first time since at least 2006, the first year the two companies operated separately.
Late last month, the judge in the case ordered Redstone to undergo a medical examination by Monday and instructed the doctor – hired by Herzer – to have the report prepared by Friday. A Redstone spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
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AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More